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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23823448">Consequences – Companion Piece to ‘London Exchange’</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/badly_knitted/pseuds/badly_knitted'>badly_knitted</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>FAKE (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Break Up, Community: fan_flashworks, Established Relationship, Fights, Heartbreak, Idiots in Love, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:27:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,179</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23823448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/badly_knitted/pseuds/badly_knitted</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dee’s jealousy starts an argument with Ryo that has far reaching consequences for their relationship.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dee Laytner/Randy "Ryo" MacLean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>fan_flashworks</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Consequences – Companion Piece to ‘London Exchange’</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Companion Piece to ‘London Exchange’.</p><p>Written for Challenge 271: Heart at fan_flashworks. </p><p>Setting: Shortly after Like Like Love.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dee felt as though his heart was being torn in two and he had no one to blame but himself and his stupid, unfounded jealousy. What was the matter with him? He loved Ryo so much, had never loved anyone more, and despite recent evidence to the contrary, he trusted his lover completely, had never been given any reason to doubt Ryo’s love for him. That rat bastard Berkeley Rose was the one Dee didn’t trust, especially not with all the secretive meetings he’d recently been having with Ryo behind closed doors…</p><p>That being the case, it was Rose he should have blown up at, not Ryo, but Dee’s jealous streak had gotten the best of him and his frustration over recent events had resulted in a massive argument that had ended with Ryo yelling at him to go to Hell before storming out of Dee’s apartment, slamming the door behind him so hard the windows had rattled. Like the idiot he was, Dee had just stood there, stunned into immobility, and watched the best thing in his life walk away without making any attempt to stop him.</p><p>He could still scarcely believe what had happened; everything had been going so well between them up to that point. Dammit, Ryo had even agreed to move in with him! It hadn’t been like Dee was getting cold feet or anything, living together was something he’d been wanting since they became a couple, and he didn’t think Ryo had been having second thoughts either, but then out of the blue he’d begun spending all that time with Rose and Dee had started to worry. It had been so suspicious, especially when Ryo wouldn’t tell him what the meetings were about, just saying they were confidential. What the Hell were they talking about in the Commissioner’s office that was so private Ryo had been sworn to secrecy? Dee had about driven himself half crazy wondering what was going on that he didn’t know about.</p><p>Still, he shouldn’t have gotten mad about it, especially not with the man he loved. Ryo seldom lost his temper the way he had the previous night, but on the rare occasions he did Dee knew from past experience it could take him a few days to calm down. Not wanting to risk starting the fight up again, he figured it might be prudent to stay out of Ryo’s way for a bit, and calling out sick seemed the best way of doing that. After all, it wasn’t a complete lie; he did have a splitting headache and he hadn’t slept at all. He’d spent most of the night pacing back and forth, fuming about his lover not trusting him enough to be honest with him before realising, somewhere around daybreak, that he was one at fault for not trusting Ryo. Since that revelation had hit him he’d been berating himself for being an idiot. He should have apologised right away, but it was too late for that now; Ryo had probably been stewing all night too and would likely all but bite Dee’s head off if he tried.</p><p>Okay, so the best thing he could do right now was stick to the plan he’d already formulated: give Ryo a day or two in peace, just enough time for them both to cool off, then go to him and offer up a heartfelt apology for being the ignorant asshole he was. </p><p>With that decided, Dee called the precinct to let the Chief know he wouldn’t be in for a couple of days, then flopped onto his bed for a badly needed nap. Not that it helped much; his dreams were plagued by visions of Ryo breaking up with him and he woke up feeling worse than ever, which, when he thought about it, was no more than he deserved. He could hardly complain, not when he was merely suffering the consequences of his own stupidity. Swearing to himself that he’d do whatever it took to make up with Ryo, he spent the rest of his time off work planning what he would say to his lover, what he’d promise if Ryo would only forgive him and give him another chance.</p><p>Everything should have worked out; Ryo wasn’t a pushover but he wasn’t the kind of person who held grudges either, and a genuine apology was usually enough to get back on his good side. Only when Dee returned to work two days after their fight it was to discover that Ryo wasn’t there. According to what people around the precinct were saying, he’d been picked to take part in an exchange between the NYPD and Scotland Yard, and was at home getting ready to leave for six months in London. Suddenly Dee was furious again. Was this what all those meetings with Rose had been about? Ryo was going to England for six months and hadn’t even seen fit to tell the man he was supposed to be moving in with? What did that say about the state of their relationship?</p><p>His anger and indignation carried Dee through several more days before he finally realised that if Ryo had indeed been planning this for a while he wouldn’t have kept it to himself, no matter how confidential it might be. He’d never keep quiet about something that would affect both of them, he wasn’t like that, which led Dee to the inevitable conclusion that his lover had been offered the temporary transfer unexpectedly and had accepted it to get away from him. </p><p>If Dee had felt bad before, it was nothing compared to the way he felt now. Why had he wasted so much time being angry? He had to see Ryo, try to talk him out of leaving before it was too late, so as soon as he got off shift he headed over to his lover’s apartment, letting himself in with his key, only to find the place completely empty, not so much as a dust bunny lurking in an unswept corner. When Dee asked, the landlord told him Ryo had moved out two days earlier after putting his furniture and other belongings into storage. </p><p>“Where Detective Maclean is now I couldn’t say, he didn’t tell me. He did say he wouldn’t be coming back here though, so the place is up for rent if you happen to know anyone who’s looking. Never a bad thing having a cop in residence; makes the other tenants feel more secure.”</p><p>Dee’s heart sank into his boots at the landlord’s words; he’d waited too long to come to his senses and now Ryo was gone and he might never come back. Even if he did return to the States after the exchange ended, what reason would he have to come back to New York, never mind the 27th Precinct? He could just as easily request a transfer to a different precinct, or move to another city; maybe even L.A. so he’d be close to Bikky.</p><p>Gloom swallowed Dee. ‘The way I’ve been acting, why would he ever want to come back to me? I don’t deserve him.’</p><p>Going home, he stood in his newly enlarged apartment, sunk in utter despair. This was the place he and Ryo had been going to share, plenty of room for both of them and even a bedroom for Bikky so the kid could stay with them whenever he came home from college on breaks. But now Dee was just going to be ratting around in all the extra space by himself while Ryo lived it up in London, meeting new people, making new friends, maybe finding a new lover…</p><p>Dee thought for sure he’d hit rock bottom, that he couldn’t possibly feel any worse than he already did, but the next morning he found out he was wrong; there was an even lower place. With Ryo now in London working for Scotland Yard, his counterpart in the exchange had been assigned to take Ryo’s place at the 27th Precinct, and apparently since he was now without his regular partner Dee was expected to show him the ropes. The new guy wouldn’t be permitted to carry a gun of course; he had no firearms experience since he didn’t belong to an armed response unit in the UK, which meant Dee wouldn’t have effective backup when they were out on the streets, just an unarmed rookie. That was the last thing he needed.</p><p>Countless times over the years they’d worked together Dee had teasingly called Ryo an airhead, but compared to the newbie… Martin Peterson was a nice enough guy, Dee supposed, friendly and good-natured, easy to get along with, he just happened to be dumb as a stump, and he was so slow! Dee had to explain everything at least six times before it started to sink in. He didn’t dare risk letting the guy drive either, knowing they’d probably wind up on the wrong side of the road heading into oncoming traffic, and on top of that, Peterson kept getting lost. Dee found himself spending more time trying to track down his missing partner than he did on police work.</p><p>As if that wasn’t enough to bring him down, Dee was missing Ryo like crazy and still didn’t know what to do about the situation. He’d long since lost count of the number of times he’d picked up his phone and gone to call his partner, only to stop himself before he could punch in Ryo’s number. After the way he’d behaved, a phone call was never going to be good enough, and if Ryo was going to officially dump him Dee would rather it was done face to face when he would at least have a chance to plead his case without Ryo being able to hang up on him. But if he wanted to apologise in person it would mean flying to London, which wasn’t an option because he had an incompetent British police officer to baby-sit…</p><p>In the end, after begging and pleading with the Chief, and even approaching Berkeley Rose, who was in a suspiciously good mood, Dee managed to get out of babysitting duty. Peterson was foisted off onto Ted and Marty, it being decided that he’d learn more by shadowing a pair of detectives while they pursued their investigations than by being thrown in at the deep end and expected to work with Dee on his cases. Clearly there was a reason Peterson had been picked for the exchange, and it wasn’t for his razor sharp investigative skills. Dee imagined Rose having some heated words with his counterpart in London over the fact that he’d sent Scotland Yard one of the NYPD’s best detectives and received in exchange one of the Yard’s worst.</p><p>Whatever went on between Rose and his opposite number, a little over two months into the exchange period Dee was called into the Chief’s office and told to pack for an extended stay in London. The exchange program was being expanded and Scotland Yard were sending a second detective across the pond, so in return the NYPD was sending them Dee. According to Chief Smith, it would serve them right for lumbering the 27th with Peterson.</p><p>“We sent them one of our top detectives and got one they were glad to see the back of,” the old badger grumbled. “So now we’ll see how they like it when we do the same. You’ll be flying out tomorrow night so you’d best go pack and make whatever other arrangements you need to. You can expect to be gone for four months, minimum.”</p><p>With that, Dee was handed his airline ticket and dismissed.</p><p>Not wanting to give up his apartment, Dee made arrangements with his landlord to pay the next four months in advance out of his savings, then went to visit Mother, knowing he couldn’t just leave without telling her. After that he talked with Carol, who agreed to apartment-sit for him. She was still at NYU, and the apartment would give her more peace and quiet than she’d been getting in the dorms. Not to mention she and Bikky would be able to have some privacy when he came home on break; they could decorate and furnish Bikky’s room themselves, save Dee the trouble. He was still holding on to the hope that maybe if he could make amends there’d be a chance Ryo might still agree to return to New York and move in with him. He had to believe in that possibility; anything less didn’t bear thinking about.</p><p>Finally, with everything arranged as well as it could be, all that was left was for Dee to fly to London, check in with Scotland Yard, get settled, then go visit Ryo and lay his heart at his lover’s feet, for better or worse. If this didn’t work, Dee didn’t know what he’d do. He’d given his heart into Ryo’s safekeeping years ago and now it was so far away; he didn’t know how much longer he could survive without it.</p><p>The End</p>
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